Just as the overall NTCC, the CPC will be guided by the principles of the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and the Empowerment Theory, which are the philosophical underpinnings of the proposed NTCC. CBPR is a partnership approach that equally involves all segments of the community and academia in the programmatic process. One of the strongest roots of CBPR is the Empowerment Theory, which holds that before community members can address goals introduced from the outside, they must be empowered to address their own goals and concerns. This process begins with a true dialogue in which everyone participates equally to identify common problems and solutions. Four principles have been proposed for CBPR: a) integration of community members as equal partners; b) integration of intervention and evaluation; c) organizational and programmatic flexibility; and d) utilization of the project as a learning opportunity for all.